Army West Point Director of Athletics Mike Buddie has announced the hiring of Brandt Nigro as the new head coach for the men’s and women’s swimming programs.
Nigro comes to West Point after a two-year stint at NC State as an assistant coach for the swimming and diving teams. His primary responsibilities included working with the sprint freestyle and stroke events, and he also assisted in recruiting.
He helped the Wolfpack men continue their dominance in the ACC with their fifth-straight league title in 2019 and the women completed an NC State sweep on the year with their own ACC title. The men finished fourth at the NCAA Championships in 2018 and 2019 and the women took seventh in 2019 and 18th in 2018 with Nigro on staff. While at NC State, Nigro saw 117 All-American performances, 37 individual ACC honors, 37 school records, and 164 NC State all-time top-10 performances.
In 2019, he mentored the women sprinters to an ACC title, conference record, and All-America performance in the 200 freestyle relay. The year before, the men’s 800 and 400 freestyle relays set NCAA, US Open and American records. With the success over the last couple of years, he was a member of the 2017-18 and 2018-19 ACC Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year. In addition, he has guided athletes to elite international-level competitions, including, World Championships and the Olympics.
“We are thrilled to have Brandt Nigro taking over our swimming programs,” Buddie said. “Everyone we spoke to about Brandt had great things to say about his work ethic, character and that he is a rising star in the sport. I am looking forward to following our cadet-athletes’ success under his leadership.”
Prior to his two years in Raleigh, Nigro had three successful seasons as an assistant coach at Marshall and UMBC.
The 2016-17 season saw Nigro help Marshall to its most successful season in program history. The Thundering Herd women’s team scored a program-record 724 points at the Conference USA Championships to finish third. Nigro, who served as the primary coach for the sprint and backstroke groups, guided Sirena Rowe to the 2017 NCAA Championships. Rowe, the 2017 Conference USA Freshman of the Year, was the first Marshall swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 2005.
In addition, Marshall swimmers set 11 new school records, six pool records, and 10 NCAA B standards. The Thundering Herd also set high marks in the classroom, earning the nation’s fifth-highest GPA.
Prior to Marshall, Nigro coached the UMBC men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams to back-to-back conference championships in his two seasons in Baltimore. He was a part of the 2015-16 CCSA Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year and the 2014-15 America East Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year. In those two seasons, 18 school records and eight conference records were set. The team was led by Emily Escobedo, who earned NCAA All-American honors in the 200 breaststroke.
While at UMBC, Nigro also served as the head senior coach of the Retriever Aquatic Club. At RAC, he guided the club through USA Swimming’s Club Recognition Program, helping it to achieve Level 4 Recognition, the highest level for USA swim clubs. He also coached multiple Junior National/Futures qualifiers, Academic All-Americans, and Maryland Swimming Senior Champions. From 2014 to 2016, he served on the staff of USA Swimming’s Eastern Zone Select Camp.
Brandt Nigro, a native of Bristol, Conn., began his collegiate coaching career as a volunteer assistant on the staff at Wesleyan University. He also coached extensively at the high school and club levels in Connecticut. Nigro worked as an assistant coach with the Cheshire YMCA Sea Dog Swim Club and served as head coach of Brookfield High School Girls Swim and Dive team, winning a Southwest Conference championship in 2012. Nigro is an ASCA Level 4 certified coach. He was selected to the ASCA Fellows Class of 2016 and interned at the Sprint Salo Swim Camp at the University of Southern California.
A former student-athlete at the College of Charleston, Nigro was a member of the 2003 Southern States Conference Championship team. He graduated with honors in 2005 with a B.A. in Political Science. In 2009, he graduated with honors from the University of Hartford with an M.S. and Sixth-Year Certificate in School Psychology. While in Connecticut, he worked as a state and nationally-certified school psychologist.
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